Some more work on the Matador. The cab interior looks to be well done, and there is a lot of little parts for the bed. The canvas window cover is from the Voyager set, rolled up.





With all those levers and shifters, must of been fun climbing in and out.

It hurts to think about it! Very nice work.

Primed the "trucks" and cruciform. Made a grievous error on the rear truck. Can't undo it and you probably wouldn't notice it...but oh man...HOW??



I haven't decided whether or not to install the gun shield. If I can get the warp out of it, I probably will. I dunno...still thinkin' 'bout it.

Mike

Is the brakeman's seat in the wrong spot? I've only built the Tamiya version which uses the older bogies, so I'm not sure if things are in the same places.

Brakeman's seat is in the correct spot. I still SMH and wonder HOW? LOL!!

Question for the group:

Does anyone have a preference for Dunkelgrau - Schwartzgrau - RAL 7021? I prefer acrylics - Tamiya, Mig, Vallejo...heh, I can even get Humbrol now! Thoughts?

Mike

Made progress on the little stuff on the Stuart V... Reworked headlights since they were molded solid green, the lens covers were turned on the lathe and the insides were done with foil and epoxy. I also cleaned up most of the kit tools, soldered together the PE tool and installed thei PE mounts. I don't plan on installing the actual tools until the upper hull has been painted.

Cheers,
PH

@ Clayton, Thanks for the kind words. Some things just take a long time, even if they are small and most people won't notice

@ Kevin, The Matador is coming along beautifully. Very nice job on the PE window cover and straps!

@Mike, Even if you put in an error that most people will never notice, the build is still looking super. Imagine how many people are going to scratch their head and try and find the Easter egg...

I'm doing it and I don't even like eggs...

Good progress, everyone. Those headlights look great, much better than painting them white.

Progress here is glacial. I hand-painted one side of the wheels (still on the sprue) and am working on the lower hull. I have to clip what looks like support struts from the suspension. I have no idea why they had these in the first place. I get the feeling this kit started as a resin kit by Hobby Fan then changed to styrene by AFV Club.

This is my model for the group

Welcome to the campaign!

I used to have that one in my stash and regretted selling it off.

Minor progress on the Stuart V... The weld joint on the PE are only roughed in, but it gives an idea of what the front will look like.

Cheers,
P

Flavio,

You're a brave man with that Blackberry. I'm slightly less brave with my Nokia Windows phone. We are both destined to fall far behind and vanish in the race to cellphone supremacy.

Soldered together the periscopes for the Stuart V. Again, small progress, but needed since there were sink marks in the kit parts...

PH

It seems the kits I've picked to work on recently require more work than I realized, so I feel your pain too. Makes me think there should be way more build reviews here.

I use plain old Tamiya Panzer Grey, but then painting is not my thing. I know people spend a lot of effort on coming up with just the right shade but I just can't get worked up about it. There are so many variables involved in lighting, in the printing process, and probably in real life. I can't imagine some Major standing on the floor of a tank factory saying "No, there is too much blue. Strip it and paint it again!"

Yep, I agree with your review comment! I have no problem building a kit that needs some work, But it would be nice to know what I'm getting into.

So far, I've had at least 20 sink marks to fill and all of them were in visible places. I have to believe this is a one-off situation for AFV Club since warped hulls and sink marks aren't mentioned in most reviews of their kits. Still, the details provided are quite nice and I've enjoyed the build so far.

These manufacturer based campaigns are a great resource to follow if you are thinking of building a kit from that company. That's why I like it when people post lots of in- progress pics and comments so we can follow along with their problems and solutions.

PH

Made some more progress on the Stuart V hull. The grousers have pretty big attachment points so cleanup takes quite a while. Also got the brackets and spare tracks assembled and installed. I'm really hoping to get started on the turret this coming week...

Cheers,
PH

Looks great, Paul! I'm ready to start my first big gun, my first AFV kit...

@ Clayton, that looks like an great subject to build. I shall watch with great interest!

PH

Yet another kit I used to have in my stash. It looks so different from other artillery pieces.

Hello everybody

Here’s my entry…



At some point in the past I read the engine deck in the kit is incorrect so bought an AM correction. Can't remember who the manufacturer is... Maybe Tank or Panzer Art?

I have a load of other stuff on at the moment, but hope to get cracking on this in the next month or so.

cheers

Matthew

A day of 3-handed clamping...

AFV= many tiny,(A LOT OF) tiny parts....now ready for the business end of the gun...

(my M10 lurks in the background...)

I always say "You're not modeling until you're looking for a fourth hand!"

Cheers,
PH

Beautiful work here folks!